CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
[misery loves company]

"if you point your finger at me one more time"

The group of detention-goers quietly made their ways through the halls of King's Dominion. Well, quiet was not exactly the best word to describe their journey. While Petra was leading the way, Chico was trying—and failing—to explain Robocop to Viktor. Andi, trying not to start another awkward conversation with Marcus, decided to help the wannabe drug lord. The one and only time they would ever be on each other's side.

"So he is cop-man or he is cop-robot?" Vik asked thoroughly confused about the idea of the show.

Chico frustrated ran a hand over his shaved head. "Half and half."

"Which is robot half?"

"Oh my god," Andi groaned as Chico let out a "No, man!"

"He's a dude in a big old metal suit," the tattooed teenager continued.

Andi, standing on Vik's other side, stepped in, giving Chico a rest from explaining. "He's a cyborg. Half-man, half-robot, all cop. I'd think you'd be familiar with the idea of someone being a cyborg considering you are also one, Vik." Viktor shot her a glare.

Petra, too, could no longer sit back and listen to the back and forth. "Andi's right. It's not a suit. They replaced his body with cybernetics. The 'robo' part keeps his brain alive." Andi smacked Chico's arm and he moved his hand like a puppet, mocking Petra as she corrected him.

"This is very confusing film," Viktor finally said.

"It's confusing if you only have half a brain," the blonde girl muttered under her breath, causing Chico to scoff out a laugh. She gave him an incredulous look, shocked that he actually laughed at something she said. She sooner thought she would keel over before that happened.

Catching her look, Chico rolled his eyes and whispered, "Cállate."

"Te callas," she whispered back.

As they continued through the corridors, Andi could vaguely hear Saya explaining to Marcus about how he was her pledge and what kind of effect that had on her, such as getting detention for shit that he did. "Your honor lives in your sword, and I'm not leaving my honor in a closet next to some Hot Pockets," Saya said as she finished explaining to the Arguello boy why her sword was so important to her.

"Hey," Andi interjected. "Don't rag on Hot Pockets. They're the only reason I've survived this far in life." The Kuroki girl cracked the slightest of smiles before they were interrupted by Chico shushing them and pointing a finger at Andi. The blonde turned on the taller boy, "If you point your finger at me one more time, I'm gonna break it off and shove it up your ass." He huffed but stayed uncharacteristically quiet before pointing to the staff lounge where all of Lin's monks were hanging out. Chico gave her a smug look as she realized why he shushed them, but she just answered it with a sneer before meeting up with Petra and Viktor.

The group quickly and quietly—for real this time—moved past the doorway and down the hall, avoiding detection. After turning a few more corners, they finally came across the door that led to the trove of confiscated treasures. Marcus knelt down with his lock picking set and got to work.

"You skeptics don't deserve the spoils that await," Petra started. Andi gave her an 'are you serious' look before she corrected, "Except for Andi. She knew this would all be worth it. But luckily for the rest of you... I'm a generous captain."

A few more seconds passed before an audible click came from the lock. Marcus twisted the handle and pushed open the door to 'Valhalla' as the rest of the teens looked on. The teens looked over the room in amazement before venturing into it and seeing what the many shelves had to offer, which was a lot!

There were chainsaws hanging on the wall, jerry-rigged bombs sitting on shelves, tons of alcohol, and even more, random shit.

Andi walked around, checking everything out and taking in her surroundings. She did not even know where to start. She spotted a keyboard towards the back and began to make her way over when she heard Viktor.

"There are explosives in here," the Russian teen started, looking to Chico. "Let's blow some shit up."

"Vik, put the bomb down. That's literally the quickest way to get us all in even worse trouble," Andi scolded. With an upset look, the Russian blond listened, putting the explosive down and walking away to find something else.

Andi continued over to the keyboard, snatching what appeared to be a decent bottle of champagne on the way. Brushing her fingers gently over the keys, the blonde played a melody she had not thought about in a long time. It was muscle memory, her fingers automatically going to the correct keys and playing the tune she had practiced so many times. She closed her eyes and imagined Delphine sitting next to her on the piano bench, proud that even after all these years she still remembered.

"I didn't know you could play the piano," Marcus said from beside her, shaking her from her reverie.

Andi pulled her hands back from the keys, letting her arms fall to her sides as she turned to the Nicaraguan boy. "There's a lot you don't know about me." At face value, it sounded teasing, a flirtation even. However, when taking into account the more recent turbulence in their relationship, it was like another twist of the knife to Marcus.

For a moment, he agreed with her previous remarks. They really did not know each other. They only knew about what had been going on in both their lives for the past couple weeks, nothing deeper. Andi knew that Marcus had been homeless, was very anti-establishment, and did not kill those kids from his boys' home. Marcus knew that Andi was a fake bitch to everyone but her friends, very skilled at killing people, and now knew that she could play the piano. Sure, they also knew the basics of each other's personalities, but that did not mean they truly knew one another. Each had their fair share of skeletons in the closet.

Their tense moment was broken when Saya announced to her friends, "It's not here."

Her sword.

Truthfully, Andi was not too worried about Saya's katana. Even though she knew it was important to Saya, maybe she just did not understand how important it was. The blonde had known Master Lin since she was a preteen. Sure, he could be a bit of a hard ass sometimes, but she doubted he was planning to keep Saya's sword permanently. He knew what it meant to her.

"Where else could it be?" Marcus asked. Saya shrugged hopelessly and turned away to wallow in self-pity for a minute. He turned to look at Andi who merely shook her head before exploring the rest of the room.

After about thirty minutes, the teens had found plenty more to occupy themselves with than when they were locked in the library.

Chico and Marcus donned some armor pieces, brandishing foam clubs and play fighting like a couple of kids, albeit a little rougher. Marcus landed a particularly hard it, knocking the helmet from Chico's head.

"You're waking the wolf, Arguello," the Latino boy said threateningly.

"Ooh," Marcus mocked back.

"I'm gonna jack you up." It was quite amusing for Andi to witness, as just the night before they two were actively trying to kill each other. The blonde felt like she was in some sort of parallel universe where they were all getting along for once.

She glanced over to see Viktor pulling a grenade out of a Russian doll set. She assumed it was his but shook her head anyway. The blonde knew he planned on sneaking it out and the last thing this school needed was that guy with a live grenade.

In another part of the room, Petra and Jaden were making some sort of concoction with Mountain Dew, Pop Rocks, and... powdered cheese? "Oh, it's like riding a cheese dragon through a forest of delicious sweets," Jaden said in awe as he tasted Petra's masterpiece. He looked like he was enjoying it but Andi could not help but recoil in disgust. There was no way Petra was getting her to try that.

The blonde was perfectly happy standing off to the side drinking her champagne and flipping her previously confiscated butterfly knife that she found buried on one of the back shelves. Lin had taken it last year when she kept flipping it around in class. She had been pissed when it happened, but now, all was well. Reunited and it felt so good.

"What?" Andi heard Saya ask, causing the blonde to look up and see her and Marcus talking again. The blonde sighed.

"Just doesn't seem like you're having much fun," he said.

Saya absentmindedly fiddled with the dagger in her hand. "If I lose my katana, my life is over."

"What do you think's gonna happen—Lin's pawning it?" Marcus asked.

Andi walked over. "Saya, I'm sure Lin will return it as soon as detention is over."

"Oh, like how he returned your knife?" she quipped back.

"It's different and you know it is," the blonde argued with her dark-haired friend. "Lin knows what your katana means to you. He's probably taking extra care with it. Maybe, he even has it with him, keeping an eye on it himself."

"It'll turn up," Marcus adds, the two friends doing everything they can to try to cheer the Kuroki girl up and help her enjoy herself.

Saya crossed her arms, "How do you know?"

Marcus shrugged, "Things always work out." He smiled as Saya looked at him disbelievingly for a beat.

"Vietnam, cancer kids, Sonny and Cher, and weren't you homeless?"

Marcus' smile dropped and Andi rolled her eyes. "Yeah," the Arguello boy started. "It's just something my dad used to say. It's not a hundred percent, I guess. It's probably closer to ten."

"Actually, I'd give it twenty percent. I mean—You're not homeless anymore, are you?" Andi interjected.

"True."

Saya sighed and walked to the other side of the shelf. The three noticed Chico dancing with a fake skeleton wearing a sombrero before Saya launched her dagger in their direction, piercing and deflating a ball beside them. The sudden throw startled Chico causing him to jump back and drop the skeleton. The Latino boy huffed and walked off, giving Saya a nasty look as he did. The ball continued to hiss as the air escaped.

"Really, Saya?" Andi asked. Everything was going great. The last thing Andi wanted was for their little adventure to end so soon because Saya unnecessarily triggered a Chico tantrum.

Marcus slowly approached the Japanese girl. "Misery love company. But the second, lesser-known part is: Company doesn't much care for misery."

As Marcus was telling this to Saya, something caught Andi's eye. A bright orange dirt bike was propped against the wall, half-covered by a greying tarp. She nudged Marcus and pointed it out to him. He shot her a smile in agreement before she wandered over to it and pulled the tarp away.

Swinging a leg over the bike, she sat down on it and looked it over. After a quick, once-over inspection, she knew that it was good to go. "Hey, Miss Mopey," she called out to Saya teasingly. The Kuroki girl looked over to see her blonde friend straddling the bike "If you're done pouting, there's fun to be had."

"It's a little smaller than yours, but this is guaranteed to cheer you up," Marcus said.

Andi picked up the football helmet from beside the bike and tossed it to Saya who caught it. "So, cheer the fuck up!" The two smiled big goofy smiles at Saya waiting for her to break.

Finally, she did, her lips quirking up at the corners. "Ah! There is it! A smile!" Andi cheered as she hopped off the bike and left it open for the girl who sorely needed a little fun in her life.

It's a little shorter but let me know what you think! Don't forget to vote and comment! Thank you!